ER did 'surprise' me. Repaired my saddle rather than sending a new one. They've gotten good at repairing cracked saddle pans, declaring it to be a SUN saddle. Not a word about my TE being the SUN version on the bike or in the manual. I also removed the erratic S idler and did not replace it with anything, per advice of others. Drive train running just fine. I do have a chain hanger that I may put on for appearance sake.

In TE's favor, I had the occasion to ride about 10 miles on rub board gravel recently. Handled great and that steel frame helped smooth out the bumps. The 1.5" Maxxis knobby front tire(not original)optimized control.

With the pan repaired and the S idler removed, I don't expect any more design problems. Every thing else is pretty much standard stuff. Will be taking it to the Big Bend area of Texas in January for 300 miles of cruising. Whoopie!